This story in the Detroit News caught my eye - being from that area, prior to my move to Los Angeles, I try to keep on an eye on what's happening there, especially since most of my family still live in Michigan. Even more important to me, my Dad works for the company mentioned below.

The article talks about Ford's plan, dubbed, "the way forward", which includes the shutting down of 30-some US plants, an estimated 30,000 jobs... I'm guessing the real number, in the end, will be much higher, it always is - but that's the part of the plan they wanted public, this is the other shoe they were waiting to drop:

A justifiably disgruntled employee, after the UAW convention in Vegas, leaked info' on a 9.2 billion dollar plan to build factories and an estimated 150,000 new jobs... not in the US, but in Mexico.


On the surface of this, it's easy to direct anger towards Ford, dig a little deeper into the problem and you might spread that anger over the huge number of corporations closing their doors in the US and setting-up shop outside the country. Deeper still, and you might point a finger at the current administration's jaw-dropping tax incentives to do business elsewhere, but eventually, at the core of this story is: tariffs.

Or the lack there of in this country... thanks to Reagan & Bush's insane trade policies, that Clinton, giving credit where it's due, really took to extreme measures. Their claim was free trade would lower prices for American consumers - but, not surprisingly, that's not what happened. Instead this turned out to be a war on the middle class.


Ford would have no incentive to move into Mexico if tariffs were still part of the process. If, for example, the same car cost $10 to make in the US, and $4 to make in Mexico, who ever brought the car into the US, from Mexico, would simply have to pay a $6 tariff to even things out. That not being the case anymore, Ford can now produce a car for much less, pay it's work force much less, benefit from a tax incentive from Bush, and not have to worry about paying a tariff when it turns around and sells its product back to the people it left behind.


On a related note, according to the Office of Labor for Michigan, the unemployment rate is, as of last May, 6% statewide, and it's on a steady rise. Compare that to a nation average of 4.7% for March of this year. Things aren't looking good in automotive capital of the country.


It's important we express a public desire for tariffs and a responsible trade policy to our representatives - both contribute, greatly, to our economy; they stabilize and push forward (the real "forward", not Ford's idea of it) our countries' work force and our living wages.